Heywood Healthcare’s Athol and Heywood Hospitals and UMass Memorial Health Alliance Clinton Hospital are joining forces with the Montachusett Regional Planning Commission (MRPC) to conduct their triennial Community Health Needs Assessments (CHNA). Comprehensive community health assessments are completed every three years to inform and drive strategies to address each health care group’s Community Health Improvement Plans (CHIP). Completing their respective health assessments together will help both systems align their efforts to address the critical health care needs of the region.
Particularly, in the wake of COVID-19, the CHNA will be a valuable tool to identify new challenges resulting from the pandemic, stated Mary Giannetti, Director of Resource Development for Heywood Healthcare.
Heywood Healthcare owns and operates Heywood and Athol Hospitals, with a primary service area consisting of 15 communities in the region; they are the city of Gardner and the towns of Ashburnham, Athol, Erving, Hubbardston, New Salem, Orange, Petersham, Phillipston, Royalston, Templeton, Warwick, Wendell, Westminster, and Winchendon. UMass Memorial Health Care owns and operates the Leominster and Clinton-based locations that comprise UMass Memorial Health Alliance-Clinton Hospital which serves 14 area communities; they are the cities of Fitchburg, Leominster, and Gardner, as well as the towns of Ashburnham, Ashby, Bolton, Clinton, Harvard, Lancaster, Lunenburg, Princeton, Sterling, Townsend, and Westminster.
MRPC is currently in the process of collecting information about the health of area residents to help complete the assessments for both health care groups. As part of this process, they are conducting an anonymous online survey, which they encourage all residents to fill out. Please fill out the survey by April 12, 2021. You can fill out the survey by clicking this link or scanning the QR code below: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/M77RNTK.
Additionally, the MRPC is facilitating several focus groups with community leaders and healthcare providers across the region to help gather input from those that know our communities the best. If interested, please register for one of the two community member focus group discussions below. The focus groups will be conducted virtually in order to ensure everyone’s safety during COVID.
Date: Thursday March 18
Time: 1 – 2:30 p.m.
Registration Link: https://forms.gle/JmfmM8QD12ZwXeTz7
Registration Deadline: Tuesday March 16 at 5 p.m.
Date: Tuesday March 30
Time: 6 – 7 p.m.
Registration Link: https://forms.gle/PzgKsewhWTUpT3sv6
Registration Deadline: Sunday March 28 at 5 p.m.
When you register, you will receive an email confirmation. Please check your spam folder if you do not see anything in your primary inbox. During the week of the focus group, you will receive a calendar invitation with login details so that you can join in on the conversation.
The MRPC, UMass Memorial Health Alliance-Clinton Hospital and Heywood Health Care greatly appreciate your participation in these focus groups and in the survey. Your input is extremely valuable to us and we look forward to engaging with you in this process.